There have been several good posts with strategies for new padawans, and jedipsychofire has a good guide as well, but that post stops just 3 boxes into the saber tree, as he apparently gave up Jedi at that point. I’m not sure a guide that ends with a statement of quitting 3 boxes in is sending the right message…. This guide goes a bit further into the Jedi profession, getting past the difficult first part of the grind until you can start to make some real progress towards whatever template you eventually settle on.

General Leveling Stategy:

All Jedi xp is earned by using a Lightsaber, period. Your goal is to maximize your saber skills before all others, so that the rest of your skills can be earned more quickly. Whether you try to power-grind it out, or take a more leisurely route, your best bet is to pick a saber style and go straight up that tree. Getting any other skills before you do this just prolongs your grind. Once you get there you will find that other skills can be earned fairly quickly, so stay focused and avoid the temptation to cash in your xp early on. You’ll be glad you did.

Skills and equipment you’ll need:

Essential Foods: Get large supplies of Citros Snow Cakes (improves accuracy), Pikatta Pie (gives you dodge skill), and Vasarian Brandy (mind buff). Note that the “dodge” that the pie gives you is not the Pistoleer/Fencer skill, but a pure defensive modifier anyone can use. Stats on this are usually around 50%, which means that you’re going to get hit about half as much as normal, above and beyond any other defense and mitigation you have. Very Nice!

Other Foods: Synthsteak (reduces damage) is too filling and short duration for steady use, but it’s nice for emergencies. Vercupti, Neutron Pixie, and Muon Gold can also give you a quick boost in an emergency.

Equipment: You will probably need to fall back on your existing non-Jedi skills when you are starting out, so a good set of composite armor will come in handy, along with whatever weapon you use for that prof. A droid or pet to group with will get you a 15% boost in xp. A good set of stimpacks for self-healing is key as well. A set of BE clothing with melee and stun defense, and socketed clothes for whatever defense SEA’s you can get will serve you well.

Non-Jedi Skills: Jedi cannot use any force powers or saber specials while wearing armor of any kind (including mabari shirts and belts), so you will need skills that provide defense, especially starting out when it takes a long time to kill anything. TKA is a popular choice, and the meditation line is quite useful as well. Medic (at least novice) is critical. Scout skills are nice early on as you can harvest all those critters you are killing and make some creds selling it, and the terrain negotiation is nice to have. I found the smuggler skill feign-death to be extremely useful.

A note on Feign-Death: I was a long-time smuggler, and so already had FD when I became a Jedi. The “ethics” of its use in PvP are often debated (I personally don’t have a problem with it), but it is quite useful beyond that, especially for a Jedi, for whom death means hours of wasted xp. Everybody gets in over their head from time to time, and it’s also huge to be able to go afk for a bit if you need to for whatever reason. There isn’t always time to find a safehouse or lake, it’s a good thing to be able to leave your toon without worrying about coming back to a corpse.

Always use Doctor buffs. Entertainer buffs are nice but not really needed until you start using channel force, as long as you have brandy.

Each of the following Jedi-related actions has an associated Jedi Visibility Modifier:

-Equipping a Lightsaber.

-Initiating Combat with a Lightsaber equipped.

-Using any Jedi-related skills that consume Force power.

All PCs and all non-animal NPCs that observe a Jedi performing any of the above stated actions (observed as defined as within 32 meters) will contribute to an increase in the Jedi's Visibility Value (JVV).

-An opposing faction member who views this action will add the full value of the action to the Jedi Visibility Value.

-A Neutral PC or non-animal NPC will increase the JVV by 50 percent of the action's Jedi Visibility Modifier.

-A same-faction PC or non-animal NPC will increase the JVV by 25 percent of the action's Jedi Visibility Modifier.

Being grouped with a PC or non-animal NPC who is viewing this action has no influence on how Jedi Visibility is obtained.

My experience has been that robes do not cause visibility, although wearing a robe will make it clear to all who see you that you are a jedi. Having your saber equipped near others does not appear to cause visibility, but if you become engaged in combat it will ignite, and that will give you visibility depnding on who is near you.

Solo groups, missions, and wild spawns: Very early on your kills take so long that a solo group is not really needed, and can even hurt you as your missions will spawn more mobs than you can really handle. By the time you get to a 3rd saber box, you will want to get a group whenever possible. If you are lucky, wild spawns can keep you earning xp at a good rate, but you can’t count on this, and it’s possible to spend a lot of time driving around looking for things to kill. For comparison, I’ve posted my average xp rates at each level, your mileage may vary. Majorly has posted an excellent guide to milking lairs here.

Initiate to Novice Saber- (4-6k xp per hour):

You can earn Jedi xp as soon as you complete the 8th padawan trial, and it is reported that you don’t gain visibility as an initiate. Some people advocate earning the 20k you will need for novice saber before finishing the trails to reduce any risk of xp loss from being hunted by BHs. I didn’t go this route, as I wanted to complete the trials first, and if you are wise you will start developing habit of keeping a low profile. In any case the goal is the same: get that first 20k of xp, so you can train the novice Lightsaber box. Without any specials, you will do about 100-150 damage per hit, using the berserk skill from novice brawler will double that. Be sure to remove all armor, including PSGs, ubese shirts, tusken clothing, etc, or your damage output will be about 10-20 per hit. Your robe is not needed at this time, as you are not using any force power and don’t need the regen or the extra points.

What to hunt:

Tatooine- Head to Mos Entha (usually fairly empty) and just north of there you will find a bunch of Scyks (135 xp) and Rogue Banthas (160 xp). The Banthas spawn alone, Sycks don't. You should be able to take 2 or 3 scyks at once. I've been hunting Feral Banthas lately, no missions. They can usually be found around the Espa track in random spawns, and will give 258 xp exactly for about 6 hits to kill.

Corellia-Humbabas seem to be a recommended animal. I know many of them spawn around the Rogue Corsec Base, and you should be able to get missions for them in a group. Dire Cats are viable as well, and not as strong as a humbaba. The males have 1k health and give 220 xp. The females have 800 health and give around 135 xp.

Lok-. Usually the missions are very easy to get from any player city (I don't reccomend Nym's Stronghold, lots of traffic) so just grab flit lairs. They're all fairly weak so they'll be easy saber kills. I've also heard Spined Snake Recluses have around 1.1k HAM and give 130+ xp

Naboo-The easiest thing to kill here seems like standard Shaupauts and Kaadu. The Kaadu gave around 120 xp per, but had near 4k ham. The Shaupaut have around 1400 HAM, and also give around 120 xp.

Rori- At Novice Lightsaber, try the Borgle and Torton POI's for some quick xp towards your next novice box. Make sure that they are empty before you break out your saber. Youcan get some low-level Tattered Torton missions from Narmle as well. Two-shot those for 120-500 xp depending on type and lair.

Dantooine- Quenker missions (6k) are always a good standby.

At 100 solid xp per kill, you have 200 kills to Novice Lightsaber. Most everything you can kill gives at least that much, so it will be a bit less than 200 kills.

Novice saber (~40k xp per buff):

It is important to note that at novice saber, with a generation one saber, your force cost will be around 14 without crystals. If you have a -4 or better crystal/pearl, you can likely do without the other novice boxes for now. If not, pick up as many of the novice disciplines as you see fit to up your force pool and regen. I grabbed the defender and healer boxes, and left it at that. The strategy for Novice Lightsaber to the next skill is to use the saberhit 1 of your choice. It seems the polearm saber will get a bit higher on damage at more or less the same speed as the other styles, but use whatever you prefer. I went double-bladed (as most people seem to), but I suspect the other lines would progress at about the same rate.

What to kill:

Endor- I spent much of my time at novice saber on Endor because there are so many things to kill, and there are many fewer people and NPCs there than on Dantooine. You can get missions for Borgle Life Sappers, Bolle Bol Stompers, and Crazed Gurrecks. I found the Gurrecks to be the best in terms of high xp/low HAM ratio, and they (like the Borgles) have a bug where they agro you one at a time. The Borgle Bats poison, but the poison tics for about 90 at a time so it's nothing major. With meditate in TKA it is easily removed. Avoid Arachnes of all types for a while as they have NASTY poison.

Saber 1 (75k-100k xp per buff):

You’ve got 200k of xp to cash in, which saber to take? Most people take the double-bladed (as did I) because it has an area spin attack, and that seems to offer a quicker xp rate. I found that the spin was too slow and low damage to speed things up; it was quicker to use leghitX at each level to target the action pool and take mobs out one at a time, and again, I suspect the other saber types are about the same. The polearm does have a higher damage, so there is that.

What to kill:

Endor again: Crazed Gurrecks, give around 650 xp per and are easy kills. Only around 6k ham, and you can hit for 1400+ per swing at this point.

If you have great crystals/pearls, you can move up to the 2nd-gen saber here, but most people seem to stick to the 1st gen for the low force cost.

Endor: Crazed Gurrecks, Fierce Borgles, Borgle Life Sappers, and weaker Bark Mites are all within your effective range now. Keep swinging until Saber 3! Random spawns of Bark Mite Hunters give almost 800 xp per and they go down quickly.

Dantooine: Quenkers are still quite nice! Most types of Hurtons can be good xp as well.

Saber 3 (150k-200k per buff):

This is probably the most difficult part of the grind, from a mental standpoint. Looking at that 1.6 million to get to sabers 4 can be very daunting, and at you are looking at 8-10 buff sessions if all goes well. Many players stray from the path here, and cash in xp to buy some other skills. I recommend against this. Your xp rate will jump DRAMATICALLY when you notch that 4th box. Getting a lot of low level skills eats up skill points, meaning you are probably dropping skills you can still use, and ups your bounty payout without increasing your ability to defend yourself. Just tough it out and keep your eyes on the prize. Some people advocate getting channel force here, I think it's a more efficient move to put that off until you get sabers 4 and really need it.

What to kill:

Same as sabers 2. Endor, Dantooine. I tried Dathomir and found it to be a bit too much, plus the danger level is quite high there. Solo groups are now a good option. Corellian War Grondas are another good source of xp..

Saber 4 (250k-300k per buff):

Woot! Congratulations, you have passed the first and most difficult hurdle. How about that frenzy/flurry/dervish? How about that 3rd gen saber? How about all that downtime while you regen your force power? Now we are going to deviate from our path just a bit to get Channel Force (enhancer 0002). This skill lets you convert HAM into force. With a doctor buff you can keep your force bar up, switch to a high cost saber, and deal out serious damage. Dervish does 2.5-4k+ damage (I have occasionally seen hits for over 5k using it), and allows you to really mow through mobs. Solo groups now are a must for maximum xp gain.

After you get channel, it’s back to the saber tree to do the tech line. This adds toughness, block, bleed attacks, and a ranged knockdown. The toughness and block especially help as you get hit less and for less, reducing downtime. Stick with it to tech 4, then craft a new 3rd gen saber.

What to kill—this won’t really change for the rest of the way:

Dantooine: Seething Bols and Voritor Trackers (need solo group to pull these missions)

Endor: Arachnes are now well within your range. Watch the wild lairs which spawn an Arachne Queen and some friends…This is what I do if I am unable to find a solo group.

If you followed my plan, you are now 6.6 million Jedi xp into your template, and a pretty powerful PvE machine. With luck and skill you might even be able to take on a Bounty Hunter and live to tell the tale. Where you go from here is up to you. The next boost in your saber skills won’t come until MLS, but that is 9.2 million xp away, so it’s not a bad idea to branch out now and get some other skills in the healing and enhancer lines if you feel the need to. I myself have stayed in the saber tree and am currently filling out the master box, after which I will have maximum DPS, and can proceed on into my template.

_________________________________________________________________ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ - Anakis Seska - /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/"Every single Jedi is now an enemy of Sony Online Entertainment. Do what must be done. Nerf them into oblivion. Show no mercy!" _________________________________________________________________

Thanks for the expanded guide. I liked the XP estimates and the other comments where great. I am currently working on LS 0030 box and it is good to hear that this is the part that everyone else hated also.

_________________________________________________________________ /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ - Anakis Seska - /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/"Every single Jedi is now an enemy of Sony Online Entertainment. Do what must be done. Nerf them into oblivion. Show no mercy!" _________________________________________________________________

Well recently i had this whack idea. Instead of milking lairs and then finishing them i never finish them. I take the first 2 spawns out(10kills) then same for other lair and back to the first kill the 2 spawns and leave it. My reasoning is that it takes around 5secs per creature to spawn. So if i run up to the lair tap it once to start them spawning and then dervish, it takes about 10-15 seconds to kill them all. Then another what 5-10secs to finish the last 1-2 creatures that spawn. Instead of hitting the lair to half way, then waiting 5-10 seconds per creature to spawn for only 5 creatures. So i can kill 10 creatures in about 25 seconds vs those extra 6 creatures(includes lair) for about 60 seconds. Saves me 1 min a lair and 2 mins a run. Doesnt sound like much but i used to average 85-95k an hour, Now i get around 120k-140k an hour, thats killing Seething bols and Voritor trackers in about 3 directions(SW, W, NW) so it takes me around 2-3 mins on the Missions terms to find my missions but its usualy easy.

Well recently i had this whack idea. Instead of milking lairs and then finishing them i never finish them. I take the first 2 spawns out(10kills) then same for other lair and back to the first kill the 2 spawns and leave it. My reasoning is that it takes around 5secs per creature to spawn. So if i run up to the lair tap it once to start them spawning and then dervish, it takes about 10-15 seconds to kill them all. Then another what 5-10secs to finish the last 1-2 creatures that spawn. Instead of hitting the lair to half way, then waiting 5-10 seconds per creature to spawn for only 5 creatures. So i can kill 10 creatures in about 25 seconds vs those extra 6 creatures(includes lair) for about 60 seconds. Saves me 1 min a lair and 2 mins a run. Doesnt sound like much but i used to average 85-95k an hour, Now i get around 120k-140k an hour, thats killing Seething bols and Voritor trackers in about 3 directions(SW, W, NW) so it takes me around 2-3 mins on the Missions terms to find my missions but its usualy easy. You

yeah...ur post was good, but one thing I would like to mention is the importance of channel force. Many times i hear of people with xx44 sabers or something and they're using first gen sabers. With channel force u dont have to worry about force cost so much...when u start to get low just channel and ur good to go . BTW, i'm 0344 sabers and i get about 400k-500k xp per buff session or more. Also I have 3204 enhancer and 3001 healer and I still use channel.

nvm didn't see that one part...but i still think one should get channel even b4 they get 0040...i say after 0030 but whatever floats it.

It all depends on what kind of crystals you can get your hands on. With a -6fc or better crystal, all novice boxes and 0/0/3/0 saber, I was able to spam /leghit3 for most of my buff session before I needed to regen.

And yes, the grind from the third box to your first fourth teir box is god-awful. I was pacing myself at about 100K a day, so I was staring at that same box for over two weeks.

The only thing Id make note on is the fact that if you group a Droid it may give visibility as a pet does not.

I have got on the terms more so when I used a droid then pet... I have not used a droid since...

I also keep my saber resources in my droid + crafting food.

Also make note Find a Master LS Jedi to make you a saber crafting tool.... it makes one hell of a difference to have a +15 tool when crafting a saber/although the best result is to find a city as a Reasearch City and a Great Weapon Crafting station 41+ or higher...this plus the foods (assem and experiment helps for sure) ---

excellent guide and so you all know war grondas on corellia give great xp too, about 2 more than crazed gurrs on endor plus they seems to spawn more from the lair. I have flown throigh them going from sabre 3 to 4.

~=Zaknafein=~

Lord Protector - MenzoberranzanJust for today, do not worry.Just for today, do not anger.Honor your parents, teachers, and elders.Earn your living honestly.Show gratitude to everything.

Never considered the message I was sending out, you do have a point though, just got sick of all the gank squads on Naritus. Also, you may want to add reccomended foods, etc. as a separate bolded catagory so they stick out as I did in mine.

yeah top guide - would like to add as I don't like Endor (found wild spawns so risky + can't place a safe house) I am grinding huurton huntresses for grinding toward 0040. They give 803xp a kill and are very managable with pikatta, snowcake and vegeparisne (which is a useful food). Just need to find a quiet corner on Dant out of a traffic path.

yeah top guide - would like to add as I don't like Endor (found wild spawns so risky + can't place a safe house) I am grinding huurton huntresses for grinding toward 0040. They give 803xp a kill and are very managable with pikatta, snowcake and vegeparisne (which is a useful food). Just need to find a quiet corner on Dant out of a traffic path.

Hehe, on some servers finding a "quiet corner on Dant" is much, much easier said than done. Shadowfire is one of the smallest servers in all of SWG, but Dantooine is as developed as any of the larger servers (I'm comparing to Ahazi, where I used to play).

If wild spawns on Endor are too risky for you then no one can argue that you shouldn't stay away. I know I wasn't completely comfortable handling the five or six boss mobs that spawn all at once from a dying merek lair until I was 0/0/4/4 saber.

I wouldn't worry about the lack of a safehouse though. Endor's NPC's (Marauders, Grassland Raiders, Ewoks, etc.) seem to be limited to a much smaller area than the NPC's on Dantooine. If you level exclusively on Endor and stay outside of the "mission belt" (think 2500m radius from a starport), you'll never need a safehouse as you'll never be on the terminals.

I'm not sure why, but I seem to be getting a bit less xp than what you've stated, for instance, I was getting 74xp for a female kaadu, 120xp for a male. Crazed Gurrecks only gave me 526xp.

Also, when it comes to hunting on Endor, depending on your faction, it can be VERY risky since the Imperial crackdown teams had their "firepower dramaticly increased", spawns of squads of Stormtroopers (commandos, dark troopers, etc) are very common, and they spawn with Stormies with 220k ham, medium armor, 60% resists. If a Rebel Jedi were contraband searched and made overt, it's pretty much instant xp loss unless you can run like hell. I've also seen a fair few AT-STs on Endor now too.